As the latest World Bank assessment in October estimated war damage in Yemen at more than $88 billion, Yemen’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Dr. Mohammed Al-Saadi, announced that consultations were underway to establish a $10 billion trust fund to start reconstruction operations, especially in liberated areas. The minister told Asharq Al-Awsat that the latest assessment conducted by the World Bank to determine the approximate amount of reconstruction needs pointed to more than $88 billion, noting that the Yemeni government has already begun the reconstruction process in some liberated areas, including Aden. Saadi revealed that consultations were currently ongoing to establish a $10 billion Saudi-led trust fund to begin reconstruction as of 2018. “There are talks about a $10 billion credit fund and currency support. There has been an exchange of views. In addition to the brothers in Saudi Arabia, the World Bank would like to provide management expertise, coordination of fundraising through donors, as well as permanent partners from the Gulf countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,” he stated. The Yemeni minister said that a committee was formed, following a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, to follow up and set reconstruction priorities based on the assessments made by the World Bank and other local assessments issued by some war-stricken provinces. While describing some of the difficulties faced in the reconstruction process during the previous period, mainly due to security instability in some areas, Saadi stressed the determination of the Yemeni government to revitalize its work in the liberated areas in the hope to move in 2018 to successful models of reconstruction.